Dixie State posted its first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference home victory, and in the process snapped New Mexico Highlands' seven-game win streak, as the Trailblazers ran away with an 83-65 victory Friday night inside the Burns Arena.

The Trailblazers (4-3/2-2 RMAC) held the Cowboys nearly 30 points below their season average, however it did not look like that was going to be the case in the early going. NMHU (7-2/3-1 RMAC) raced out to a quick 12-5 lead thanks in part to back-to-back 3-pointers from Raquan Mitchell and Jordan Jones, which forced DSU Head Coach Jon Judkins to call an early timeout.

That timeout immediately paid dividends as the Blazers rattled off seven-straight to draw DSU even at 12-12. Then with the score tied at 20-20 midway through the stanza, Dixie State went on a run of its own, outscoring the Cowboys 18-6 over an eight-plus span to open up a 38-26 lead.

DSU's defense spurred the rally on as the unit forced two turnovers and held NMHU to just 1-of-13 shooting (1-of-7 3FG) over that stretch. DSU would extend its lead to 42-28 late in the period, but the Cowboys connected on two late treys to trim the Trailblazer lead to 42-34 at the halftime break.

"The exact same thing happened to us [at Black Hills State last Saturday], [NMHU] came out and shot a lot of threes," Coach Judkins said. "They pushed the ball up and would drive, kick and shoot, and our guys were not getting back on defense.

"I called that timeout and changed up some things and told our guys that we needed to sprint back [on defense] and slow the ball down," Judkins added. "Then we got some good looks on offense and got back into the game."

Dixie State maintained its momentum to begin the second half, opening the frame with nine-straight points to bolt to a commanding 51-34 lead. The Cowboys came back with a quick 7-0 spurt to pull to within 51-41 with a little over 16 minutes to play, but the Trailblazers counter-punched with an 8-0 run, culminating with a Wade Miller 3-pointer that pushed the DSU lead to 59-41 with 13:30 to go.

The Trailblazers kept their double-digit lead intact from there, extending the advanatage to as many as 22 points before settling on the 18-point win.

DSU shot a season-best 55.4 percent (31-of-56) from the floor and outscored the Cowboys 44-16 in the paint, which offset NMHU's 13 3-point makes (13-of-39, .333). Dixie State also outrebounded NMHU by a decisive 55-25 count, including a 12-8 edge on the offensive glass that led to 16 second-chance points.

"Every team goes on runs, but you've got to control them and we did a good job of that by going inside and getting to the line," Judkins noted. "We missed a lot of foul shots (13-of-21, .619), but getting to the line is how you stop runs. Our guys started to get a bit more confidence when our defense picked up and then we got good shots. Tonight was a whole team effort and it was our defense, our defense was really good."

Matt Conway led three Trailblazers in double figures with 17 points, while Dub Price posted DSU's first double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds, 10 of which came on the defensive end. Price hit on 6-of-7 of his shot attempts and finished with three assists and three steals.

Meanwhile, Miller tallied 11 points and a career-best nine caroms in his first collegiate start and Jack Pagenkopf chipped with nine points with five boards and four assists. In all, 10 of the 11 Trailblazers who saw time on the night scored to highlight a balanced DSU offensive attack, including 27 bench points. Cameron Chatwin (8 pts) and Dason Youngblood (6 pts) each posted career-high point nights and Julien Ducree poured in seven points with four boards, two blocks and one steal.

Mitchell led all scorers with 21 points as he went 7-of-14 from the floor with five 3-pointers. New Mexico Highlands shot 32.8 percent from the floor (22-of-67) and was a paltry 8-of-17 (.471) at the line.

Dixie State will quickly turn around to host Colorado State-Pueblo Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.